Civic technology companies are platforms, products, and services that facilitate civic engagement. [1] [ unreliable source? ] [2] [ unreliable source? ] [3] [ unreliable source? ] Civic technology encompasses any type of technology that enables greater participation in government affairs, or "assists government in delivering citizen services and strengthening ties with the public". [4] [ unreliable source? ] The phrase can essentially be used to describe any company that is concerned with improving the quality, access, and efficiency of government services within the political system through technological means. [2] [ unreliable source? ] Although similar, Civic Technology is different from Government Technology. [5] [ unreliable source? ] Civic technology seeks to connect citizens with each other or with their government. [6] [ unreliable source? ] Government Technology primarily seeks to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of governments' internal operations. [5] [ unreliable source? ] Although the term can be used differently, Government Technology can also be classified as a subcategory within civic technology due to the indirect benefits citizens gain from government efficiency. [7] [ unreliable source? ]
Most current civic technology companies fall under a few categories. First is Government Technology, which is technology used by nations to either increase the efficiency of their operations or to enhance their connection to citizens. [7] [ unreliable source? ] Another category is Advocacy, which is made up of civic technology companies used for political or social purposed by non-government groups. [7] [ unreliable source? ] The last main category is Voting, which encompasses companies that seek to improve voting systems. [7] [ unreliable source? ]
Platform Name | Founder | Dates Created | Open Source | Corporate Structure |
---|---|---|---|---|
VotingWorks | Ben Adida | 2018 | Open | Non-profit |
Pol.is | Open | Non-profit | ||
Gov Tech | Jacqueline Poh [8] | 2016 | Open | Non-Profit |
Bang the Table | Matthew Crozier and Crispin Butteriss [9] | 2008 | Open | Non-Profit |
City Innovate | Kamran Saddique [10] | 2015 | Open | Non-Profit |
Code for America | Jennifer Pahlka [11] | 2009 | Open | Non-Profit |
coUrbanize | Karin Brandt [12] | 2013 | Open | Non-Profit |
OpenGov | Zachary Bookman [13] | 2012 | Open | Non-Profit |
Accela | Gary Kovacs [14] | 2018 | Open | For-Profit |
CityBase | Mike Duffy [15] | 2013 | Open | Non-Profit |
MuniSight | Greg Berger [16] | 2017 | Open | For-Profit |
Nava | Rohan Bhobe | 2015 | Open | Public Benefit Corporation (PBC) |
Nextdoor | Nirav Tolia, Sarah Leary, Prakash Janakiraman and David Wiesen [17] | 2008 | Open | Non-Profit |
Fiscal Note | Timothy Hwang, Gerald Yao, and Jonathan Chen [18] | 2013 | Open | For-Profit |
Maptionnaire | Maarit Kahila, Anna Broberg [19] | 2011 | Not | For-Profit |
Data on investment provided for civic technology companies from 2011 to 2013 offers insight into the current landscape of these technology companies. Data collected by the Knight Foundation in this time period analyzed the difference in funding between Open Government and Community Action civic technology companies. [20] The Knight Foundation defines Open Government oriented companies as promoting citizen participation in government and Community Action companies as technology companies seeking to empower and unify citizens with a bottom-down approach. [20] Of investment in this time period, Community Action civic technology companies received more funds than Open Government oriented civic technology companies. [20] Within Community Action companies, Neighborhood Forums and P2P Local Sharing received most of the investment funds. [20] Within Open Government civic technology companies, Data Access & Transparency companies and Resident Feedback companies received the largest share of investments within the Open Government category. [20]
As of 2021, various trends highlight the potential areas for growth civic technology can expand into. While many businesses assess data in real time, many governments lack the online infrastructure for this capability. [21] Civic technology could play a pivotal role in more robust and frequent government data collection for its citizens. [21] The gains of SpaceX highlighted the role private companies could play in developing technology for further space endeavors in coordination with the government. [22] Furthermore, governments' increasing reliance on technology such as drones and software for military units show potential for military-focused civic technology companies to work with Governments. [22] In the current landscape of civic technology companies, there remains potential for civic technology companies to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion for the community or communities they target. [23] [ unreliable source? ] Civic technology could also connect younger citizens with their government. [24] [ unreliable source? ] Specifically, since age groups under 30 primarily engage in their democracy through social media or other online platforms, online based civic technology companies could possibly increase engagement from these younger age groups. [24] [ unreliable source? ] Furthermore, issues ranging from increasing school violence to increasing local environmental preservation concerns could also create high demand for civic technology companies to address these issues. [25] [ unreliable source? ] Lastly, due to growing interest in and implementation of Participatory Budgeting and Citizens' Jury, there is greater demand and potential for civic technology companies that enable these practices on a massive scale. [26] [ unreliable source? ]
A public utility company is an organization that maintains the infrastructure for a public service. Public utilities are subject to forms of public control and regulation ranging from local community-based groups to statewide government monopolies.
E-democracy, also known as digital democracy or Internet democracy, uses information and communication technology (ICT) in political and governance processes. The term is credited to digital activist Steven Clift. By using 21st-century ICT, e-democracy seeks to enhance democracy, including aspects like civic technology and E-government. Proponents argue that by promoting transparency in decision-making processes, e-democracy can empower all citizens to observe and understand the proceedings. Also, if they possess overlooked data, perspectives, or opinions, they can contribute meaningfully. This contribution extends beyond mere informal disconnected debate; it facilitates citizen engagement in the proposal, development, and actual creation of a country's laws. In this way, e-democracy has the potential to incorporate crowdsourced analysis more directly into the policy-making process.
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Civic engagement or civic participation is any individual or group activity addressing issues of public concern. Civic engagement includes communities working together or individuals working alone in both political and non-political actions to protect public values or make a change in a community. The goal of civic engagement is to address public concerns and promote the quality of the community.
The renewable-energy industry is the part of the energy industry focusing on new and appropriate renewable energy technologies. Investors worldwide have paid greater attention to this emerging industry in recent years. In many cases, this has translated into rapid renewable energy commercialization and considerable industry expansion. The wind power, solar power and hydroelectric power industries provide good examples of this.
The Participatory Politics Foundation (PPF) is a United States non-profit organization whose mission is to preserve U.S. democracy. It works to increase public participation by, among other means, modernizing the political system through technological advancements that help connect lawmakers and citizens. The non-profit opened in February 2007.
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Nextdoor Holdings, Inc. is an American company that operates a hyperlocal social networking service for neighborhoods. The company was founded in 2008 and is based in San Francisco, California. Nextdoor launched in the United States in October 2011, and is available in 11 countries as of May 2023. In 2024, their website claimed that they have 88 million "neighbors" as members.
Civicplus is a web development & android apps business headquartered in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It specializes in "building city and county e-government communication systems." It was first developed by programming company Vanyon, a division of Networks Plus Foundership community.
Ghana Open Data Initiative (GODI) was started in January 2012 by the National Information Technology Agency (NITA) in partnership with the Web Foundation (WF), to make Government of Ghana data available to the public for re-use. The establishment of GODI is meant to promote efficiency, transparency and accountability in governance as well as to facilitate economic growth by means of the creation of Mobile and Web applications for the Ghanaian and world markets. The project was scheduled for completion in 2014 and aimed to create a sustainable Open Data ecosystem for Ghana. GODI was launched with a 100 data sets categorized as political, legal, organizational, technical, social or economic. The vision of GODI is to develop an open data community involving the Government of Ghana, civil society organizations, industry, developer communities, academia, media practitioners, and the citizenry, to interact with one another with the aim of developing an open data portal to bring about transparency, accountability and efficiency in government.
OpenGov Inc. is a government technology company that offers cloud software for public sector accounting, planning, budgeting, citizen services, and procurement. OpenGov serves over 1,000 cities, counties, and state agencies across 49 states. In April 2020, OpenGov released a full-cloud enterprise resource planning (ERP) system designed specifically for municipal and county governments. In February 2024, minority owner Cox Enterprises agreed to acquire the company.
A Civic application is an application software designed to encourage users to participate in and learn more about government.
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